Hot water circulating system



Nov. 10, 1931. s. HARTSELL 1,831,244

HOT WATER CIRCULATING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 17, 1930 F-lgl /0 5/ Jufax 'IIIIIIII/ nag III/Ill jz'aneyfiarzsell $114M M attozmia Patented Nov. 10, 1931 PATENT OFFICE imme HARTSELL, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON fior WATER crEcULATING' SYSTEM Application filed November 17, 1930'. Serial No. 496,233.

My invention relates to an improvement in such systems as are'primarily intended for heating houses. There are ordinarily certain rooms which it is desired to keep warm at one period, while at the same time other roomsneed not be heated. At other times the situation may be reversed, or it may be desirable to heat all parts of the house.

It is, therefore, one of the main objects of o'my invention to provide a system of this Sort which is flexible to the extent that se lected parts of the system may be put into operation and other parts kept out of operation, and whereby the whole may be controlled merely by turning on or off the electric current to selected heaters, yet a system in which all parts are homogeneously connected into a unitary system.

It s a further object to provide a means sofor circulating water through such an arrangement, wherein the electric water heaters are protected effectively against the entrance of particles or rust or other foreign matter, which have atendency to burn out the elements, yet to prevent clogging of the system and to provide a means whereby such particles will automatically, and without restriction of circulation, find their way into a sediment bulb from which they can be removed.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a distributor for such a system from which there are individual feed lines branching ed, and a bafile, so arranged with respect to the several feed lines, that water from individual heaters is directed only to the proper feed lines, yet all of the feed lines are connected to the common distributor.

\Vith these and other objects in view, my invention comprises the novel parts and the novel combination and arrangement thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings, described inthis specification, and as will be more particularly' defined by the claims which terminate the same. I

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in a form which is'now preferred by me, it being understood that various instr'umentalities may be employed in the construction of a device containing the essence of my invention.

Figure 1 is a general ax.al' section through the heat generating portion of such a system, the heaters being shown in elevation.

Figure 2 is a cross section through the distributor cross T.

Figures 3 and 4 are views similar to Figure 2, showing modified forms of distributor cross Ts.

Insorar as the house installation isconcerned, itmay be any that is found suitable, involving theusua'l radiators ,withindividual feeder lines 9 and 90 running to one or more such radiators, anda common return pipe 8, into which all of the radiators drain and from which the water isreturned to theheaters, im-licated in general by the numerals 7 and 70. There may, of course, be the usual expansion tank, and gauge glasses and the like, but since such parts are common, and since my invention is not concerned with the radiators and the pipes leading water to or returning it from them, they have not been illustrated, and I have shown the heating and circulating arrangements only.

From the return pipe 8 it is'necessary that the water be" permitted to flow tothe inlet 71 of both of the heaters, and I prefer that it be carried slightly upward to accomplish this, and hence I connect the return pipe to a' T 80, to an upwardly extending branch of which is connected a short nipple 81, which connects to a branch 68 of across T 6. From each of the lateral branches 67 of the cross T extends a branch pipe 76 to the inlets of the respective heaters. Bushings 66 may be employed if this is found necessary. 7

From the outlet 7 2 of each of the heaters there extends another branch line which connects to a lateral branch 57 of an upper cross T 5; Bushings 56 are employed at this point also if needed, and it is to be noted that the two-branch lines 7 5 from the opposite heaters 7 and 70 are directed inwardly at substantially right angles 10 the axis of the vertical branches 51 and 54 of the cross T 5',in other words,'in the. form shown in Figure 1, wherein there are two heaters? and 70,- they are disposed oppositely and connect 0 to the lateral branches 57 of the cross T 5 at right angles to the vertical axis of the branches 51 and 54.

I prefer that arts be so arranged that the cross T 5 is su stantially directly over the cross T 6, and this affords an opportunity to connect them by an upright riser 4, which connects to the lower branch 54 of the cross T 5 and to the upper branch 64 of the cross T 6.

The branch lines 75, which connect to the outlets of the several electric water heaters, all feed laterally to the cross T 5, and to the upper branch 51 of this cross T is secured a distributor 1, which has branches 19, to which the several feeder lines 9 and 90 are secured. WVithin the distributor, and dividing the space therein into conduits corresponding in number and location to the several individual feed lines, is a baffle 10. This bafile projects below the lower end of the distributor 1, and into the cross T 5, where it fits the side walls closely, and its lower end extends below the lowermost point of the lateral branches 57, without, however, obstructing the lower branch 54.

Water projected laterally from the branch lines will impinge upon this bafile 10, but because of the tendency of hot water to rise, it will not pass beneath the lower edge of the bafile, but will'rise into the corres onding conduit in the distributor which'lea s to the corresponding feeder line. Thus, for instance, the water from the heater 7 will be distributed to the feeder line 9 and that from the heater 70 will be distributed to the feeder 90, but water from the heater 7 will not pass under the baffle 10 and rise into the feeder line 90, yet all are connected into the one distributor 5, and form part of a homogeneous system.

One object of causing the water to impinge upon the baffle 10 is that solid particles carried in it (rust, for instance) will tend to separate out by the impingement, and these particles will drop through the riser 4 and into the cross T 6. At this point I provide ascreen 2, which preferably takes the form of a foraminous sleeve, having its ends received in the upper and lower branches 64 and 68 respectively, thus screening the lateral branches 67, but not in any way impeding the passage of particles down through the cross T 6. Particles dropping through the riser 4 will, therefore, pass through the sleeve2, through the nipple 81 and the T 80, and may be received in a sediment bulb 3, which is connected by a short nipple 38 with the T 80. The sediment bulb may be of any suitable capacity, and at its lower side may have a hose bib 31 secured to it, by means of which it can be blown out from time to time and the waste run off through a hose to the basement drain.

The screen 2 will, of course, catch any particles of rust which are carried in from the return pipe 8 and which might otherwise enter the lower branches 76 to come in contact with the heating elements within the water heaters 7 or 70, and which would in this manner tend to burn out these elements more rapidly. The screen, it will be observed, rests upon the upper end of the nipple 81, and is held in place by the lower end of the riser 4.

The system just described employs two heaters. Three-or four heaters may be employed, and more might be connected in such a system, as is indicated in Figures 3 and 4. In Figure 3 the cross T 5 is provided with three lateral branches 57, and the baflle 10 similarly has three blades which divide the distributor into three conduits leading to a like number of branches 19 (not shown). In Figure 4 there are four branches 57 leading from the cross T 5, and he bafiie has four blades. v

With such a system a number of heaters, as 7 or 70, may be employed, such as will be required for heating of the entire house, and all of them will be connected to a common return pipe 8, and to a common distributor 1, and there will be a common supply source and expansion tank. All of the water from the return pipe 8 passes into the respective heaters 7 and 7 0, or more if more are provided, but the water issuing from them is divided at the cross T 5 by the bafile 10, and if one of the heaters (70, for instance) is cut off, the water which enters this heater will not tend to rise, and consequently, there will be no circulation through the feeder line 90 connected thereto. Circulation through the heater 7, however. may be quite active, and the water from this heater will reach the cross T 5, where it will be baffled by the baffle 10 and caused to rise through the distributor 1 to the corresponding feeder line 9.

In this way, the radiator 0r radiators connected to the feeder line 9 may be kept full of hot water. so that the living room, for instance, may be kept warm. On the other hand, radiators connected to the feeder line 90, though still an integral part of the system, will not be kept heated, and thus the operator may keep the bedrooms, for instance, from being heated. When it is desired to heat the bedrooms, it is only necessary to turn on the current in the heater 70, and water will commence circulating through the heater and up through the feeder line 90, and of course, will return through the common return pipe 8. Because the return pipe is common to all heaters, the water entering the heater 70, following such a shut-down, will be heated from its passage through the heater 7 and the radiators fed therefrom, and the heater 70 will quickly attain its full heat. The hitherto cold radiators will be quickly heated, and the cooling of the hot radiators will not be noticeable.

It has been found that such a system is ade quate to the needs of a normal house, and is sufiiciently flexible to maintain the temperatures in different rooms exactly as required, and that the consumption of current is moderate. Because of the small amount of water in the system, and the interconnection of the parts, it requires but a short time to heat the water in the system.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A hot water circulating system comprising a feeder line and a return pipe aligned therewith, a riser connecting the two, a laterally disposed electric heater, branch pipes connecting the heater at bottom and top to the return pipe and the feeder line, respectively, a foraminous sleeve within the return pipe, screening the entrance to the connected branch pipe, and a sediment bulb depending from the return pipe, to catch deposits screened out or dropping through the riser and sleeve.

2. A hot water circulating system comprising a feeder line and a return pipe aligned therewith, a riser connecting the two, a laterally disposed electric beat-er, branch pipes connecting the heater at bottom and top to the return pipe and the feeder line, respectively, the wall of the feeder pipe opposite the end of the branch connected thereto being substantially perpendicular, and the feeder discharging thereagainst to separate solids from the stream.

3. A hot water circulating system comprising a plurality of electric water heaters,

a distributor and a plurality of feeder lines leading therefrom, branch pipes connecting the outlet of each heater to the distributor, means to return the water to the respective heaters, and a bafile depending within the distributor between each branch pipe and all others, with its lower edge below the lowermost level of the said branch pipes, and connecting each branch pipe with its corresponding feeder line.

4. A hot water circulating system comprising a plurality of electric water heaters, a like number of feeder lines, a distributor from which said feeder lines lead, a branch line connecting the outlet of each heater with said distributor, a return pipe, a second branch line connecting the return pipe with the inlet of each heater, a riser connecting the distributor with the return pipe, and a battle depending from between the several feeder lines within the distributor between the corresponding branch pipes, and depending into the riser to a point below the lowermost level of the branch pipes, to define a conduit between each branch pipe and the corresponding feeder line.

5. A hot water circulating system compris ing a plurality of electric water heaters, a like number of feeder lines, a distributor from which said feeder lines lead, a branch line connecting the outlet of each heatr with said distributor, a return pipe, a second branch line connecting the return pipe with the inlet of each heater, a riser connecting the distributor with the return pipe, and a baffle depending from between the several feeder lines within the distributor between the corresponding branch pipes, and depending into the riser to a point below the lowermost level of the branch pipes, to define a conduit between each branch pipe and the corresponding feeder line, a sediment bulb beneath the return-pipe, and a foraminous sleeve within the return pipe, screening the entrance to the several branch pipes.

6. A hot water circulating system comprising a plurality of electric waterheaters, a riser pipe, a cross T at each end thereof, a return pipe connected to the lowest branch of the lower cross T, a branched feed distributor connected to the uppermost branch of the upper cross T, a battle depending from the distributor into the upper cross T to below the lowest level of the lateral branches, and branch lines connecting the lateral branches of the lower and upper cross Ts, respectively, with the inlet and outlet of the several waterheaters.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 13th day of November, 1930.

SIDNEY HARTSELL. 

